KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chase Chulakote, the OIA and Hawaii State Amateur champion, tries for the high school state title this week.
Chasing Chulakote
The Kailua senior is shooting
for the state high school
golf championship
With both an Oahu Interscholastic Association individual championship and a first-place finish at the Hawaii State Amateur Stroke Play Championship on his resume, it would be easy to define Chase Chulakote merely by his exploits on the golf course.
Any effort to portray the Kailua High senior as a generalist rather than a specialist inevitably falls short, however.
"If he had his wish, he would be a rock star, actually," his mom, Mira, said with a laugh.
"At this point in his life, he has varied interests. I like to say he's a Jack-of-all-trades."
Chulakote (pronounced chew-lah-KOT) plays the guitar as well as the drums, and listening to punk rock is among his favorite pastimes. He has studied kung fu since the age of 10, lifts weights when he can, and is active in the ROTC at Kailua High. His every movement is marked by maturity, regardless of his field of concentration.
"At whatever golf course we play at, parents always point out to me how well dressed he is and how well mannered he is in how he conducts himself," Kailua coach Ernie Foster said. "It shows in his game. He's not out there to waste his time."
For all his interests, golf is a primary focus for Chulakote this week. He and fellow Kailua teammates Kyle Kunioka, Sam Rodriguez III and Jared Matsuda hope to win a team title at the 2003 David S. Ishii Foundation Boys State Golf Championships this weekend. (Chulakote's younger brother Scott also competed for the Surfriders during the regular season.)
"If each of our guys goes out and does the best that they can, that's all we can really ask for," said Chase Chulakote. "We'll do well if we just go out there and do our best individually."
The tournament takes place Friday and Saturday at the Waikoloa Kings Course, and Chulakote is clearly among the favorites to win the individual title. He won the OIA individual championship April 28 by two strokes over Alvin Okada of Waianae, and the Surfriders finished second to Mililani after a playoff in the team competition. On March 16, he exceeded his own expectations by winning the state amateur stroke play title.
"I thought I had a chance, but I didn't really think I was going to win," Chulakote said. "I wasn't expecting it."
HISWINwas bittersweet because Chase's grandfather, Ken Watts, passed away in February and was not able to celebrate his grandson's victory. Watts had a positive impact on his growth in the sport.
"I think he would have been very happy," Chulakote said. "He used to play when he was younger, but he had stopped because of shoulder problems. When I had started to play golf, he was pretty much the one who taught me in the beginning. He bought all of my equipment, paid for my practice rounds, and took me here and there to practice."
Soccer and baseball were Chulakote's choices for competitive sports during his formative years, but a leisurely afternoon in front of the television set changed all that.
"One day when I was 11, I was watching golf and I decided I wanted to try it," he said. "My mom signed me up for a golf class at Windward Community College. It lasted for about two weeks. I kind of liked it. I didn't begin to play right away, but maybe a year after that, when I was 12, I started. My grandpa took me out to the driving range a couple of days a week, and I started to hit balls.
"From there, we started practicing more on the course, and I started to play in golf tournaments," he continued. "My grandpa said I seemed to be a natural at golf, and I really liked the game, so I stuck with it.
"As I got more serious about golf, I stopped playing softball and soccer (at age 13). Not too long ago -- maybe when I was going into my junior year -- that's when I started playing four or five days a week. Now, I practice seven days a week."
Many a weekday afternoon finds Chulakote at Koolau Golf Course, where he receives instruction from Kevin Ralbovsky, who coaches a number of Hawaii's talented young golfers.
Chulakote thinks his even temperament makes him ideally suited to golf.
"I'm pretty much in the same emotional state (on or off the golf course)," he said. "I'm that kind of person, anyway. I don't get distracted too easily, and I don't get overworked about things."
Chulakote's background in kung fu, which he learned at the Chinese Physical Cultural Association in Nuuanu, has also helped him to fine-tune his mental approach.
"That (kung fu) and meditation help me with the mental aspect of golf -- being able to stay calm and focused," he said.
"It's helped me out a lot in golf."
He meditates for 30 minutes every night before he goes to sleep. He learned his meditation from his father, Wima, who is a math teacher at Kalaheo High during the day.
Finding a balance between his responsibilities to ROTC and the golf team has often been cause for debate within the family, according to Mira Chulakote.
"There are a lot of (ROTC) activities after school and on weekends, and at times within the family we've had conflicts there," she said. "His dad may think he should focus more on golf, and I may think maybe he should do ROTC, but it's worked out."
When time allows, Chulakote's love of music takes over, and he pounds away on his drum set.
"He's very intense when he drums -- I think it's a way for him to work things out," Mira Chulakote said.
Said Chase Chulakote: "I push myself to do better --I feel that way about a lot of things I do."
